Another important date in the housing element process is just around the corner. Jurisdictions that did not have their housing elements certified by May 31, 2023 must have all housing element rezonings completed by January 31st, 2024. Only Sausalito was certified by May 31, 2023, so they will have until January 2026 to complete their…
Marin County has had the lowest rate of housing production in the Bay Area for over 50 years. Exclusionary zoning rules and creation of open space have slowed production, but arguably, lawsuits have been an even larger factor. Marin famously kicked off the conservation movement and the use of lawsuits to block development in the…
Every local government in the San Francisco Bay Area was required by law to update their Housing Element by January 31, 2023. The Housing Element requires each jurisdiction to plan for a state-determined number of housing units (called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation or the RHNA). HCD, a state level agency, must certify that the…
In June this year (2023) San Rafael resubmitted their Housing Element to HCD following requests from the state to make some revisions. Read more and track the Housing Element here.
What are Marin cities and towns, and the county, doing to prevent displacement? As housing costs in Marin continue to soar despite national trends, tenant protections have become a hot topic. Fairfax, Larkspur, and unincorporated Marin County have implemented or are discussing tenant protections. Though many of the Marin Housing Elements contain provisions promising to implement protections, these provisions remain controversial. Anti-displacement…
Click to see a list of resources, including a video with a quick primer on Housing Elements (made by Carlsbad, but equally applicable to Marin), MEHC’s Housing Element Primer, and the State RHNA progress report.
TO ADDRESS ITS HOUSING SHORTAGE, California implemented a Housing Element process over 50 years ago. The process requires each local city and county to adopt a Housing Element that must be updated and certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) every 8 years (an 8-year “Housing Cycle”). So far, this program has failed…
Never mind the record-shattering atmospheric river that hit the Bay Area this October, Marin (like most of the western US) is still in a state of extreme drought. Despite the fact that local reservoirs are now up to 57% of capacity from a paltry 32% in early October, this is still well below the annual…
UPDATES AND APPEALS In late September and Early October, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) heard appeals from ten Marin jurisdictions disputing their Regional Housing Needs Allocations numbers. None of these appeals were granted. Now that the appeals hearings have concluded, Marin towns and cities are conducting public engagement workshops for their 2023-2031 Housing…
By Will Houston PUBLISHED: November 18, 2021 Developers in central and southern Marin County could be required to pay tens of thousands of dollars in new fees or add water-saving upgrades to their projects under a proposal to reduce demand on water supplies. After facing the potential of running out of water during the drought,…